Islam

Do you know what is better than charity and fasting and prayer?

It is keeping peace and good relations between people,

as quarrels and bad feelings destroy mankind.

- Prophet Mohammed

6/26/10

Day 26

I've never really had a good body. That never bothered me though. I've always been very comfortable to take my shirt off in any situation. In fact, if you were to ask many of my friends from college (and even Korea) what they thought of when they imagine me shirtless (odd question though), they would say that I have tiny nipples. And they'd be right. My nipples are roughly the same exact size as dimes. These bad-boys are super small. I used that as a deflection from my average and shapeless body. It worked and after changing the story for over a decade, I can honestly say that I am 100% confident with my body no matter its shape or audience. I have my shirt off right now actually.

I guess I should say that Korean coins don't work with my nipple size. It's a shame, but my past time in Korea has been seeing if my chicken legs are as skinny as my moderately sized arms. A few years ago, my wife (then girlfriend) and I were in the zoo at the flamingo exhibit chatting it up when one flamingo walked up to us and just sort of stared. My wife started laughing hysterically and which point I asked her in adorably mispronounced Korea, 왜? (Why?). I already knew what she was laughing at. The damn flamingo was big-timing me right in front of my new girlfriend. It was alright. I was very well aware of my legs' boyish girth.

If you may recall, I decided that I would not ride any form of transportation for the entire month. I tried my best, but had to pick my wife up twice and will have gone to my Meeting four times (three successful) by the end of it, but all other times I managed to bike it. Just a few moments ago I stepped out of the shower to notice that my legs have gotten pretty strong this month. I also realized that hills are no problem for me anymore. So, I reduced my carbon footprint and got some sweet leg muscles in the process. That's what Quakers call win-win.

Seriously though, quitting motorcycles, cars, buses and subways was harder than I thought it would, but I feel really good about it. I am addicted to oil in so many ways and I'm going to be pushing to gets some minutes recorded at tomorrow's Meeting about the current oil spill and ways that I can reduce my intake according to Quaker methods.

As for me, I'd like to share an idea or two.

I know a lot of people are gunning for BP and other oil execs and they deserve to go down for this big time, but my concern is not them. Being overly concerned with those guys amounts to revenge and I'm not about that. What we need to learn from this is that life is more fragile than any amount of technology or money can solve or manage. Two months after the initial explosion, the oil is still spilling and no amount of technology can undo what has been done.

We had the power to create this problem, so we should have to power to solve it then. Quakers want to solve problems so they don't occur again. They seek out the cause. The solution to this problem is not a cap or a temporary moratorium on drilling. No, the solution is that we should force ourselves to suffer a little in order to reduce the suffering of this planet. I'm tired of quick-fixes and the environment and earth--both are sweet gifts to us from God--deserve better.

Both Korea and US play tonight. Win or loss, I'm happy with both of them. Still, I hope both teams win and get to meet in the Quarterfinals.